Lift truck stacker



July 15, 1958 A. L. STOPPS 2,843,230

LIFT TRUCK'STACKER Filed Jan. 23, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet J.

Inventor ALFRED LESLIE STOPPS Attys July 15, 1958 A. L. STOPPS 2,343,280

LIFT TRUCKSTACKER' Filed Jan. 23, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor ALFRED LESLIE sroPPs u y 15, 1958 A. L. STOPPS 2,843,280

LIFT TRUCK STACKER Filed Jan. 23, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 inventm' RED LESL/E STOPPS July 15, 1958 A, L, S QPPS 2,843,280

LIFT TRUCK STACKER Filed Jan. 23, 1956' 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 No. I a 7 FIG ll Mwamm- ALFRED LESLIE STOPPS 11 8 A. L. sToPPs 2,843,280

LIFT TRUCK STACKER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 23, 1955 Inventor ALFRED LESLIE STOPPS United States Patent LIFT TRUCK STACKER Alfred Leslie Stopps, West Flamboro, Ontario, Canada Application January 23, 1956, Serial No. 560,641

6 Claims. (Cl. 214-620) This invention relates to a lift stacker of the type which is commonly fitted with spaced projecting forks for lifting articles of crate size.

It is an object of this invention to provide such a stacker with fork mounts in which said forks project therefrom as cantilevers while being retained against moving longitudinally or rotating under gravity but which may be easily removed by rotating said forks against gravity and withdrawing them from said mounts.

It is an object of this invention to provide such a stacker having a base from which a pair of standards extend upwardly and wherein lifting by said stacker applies a bending moment to said standards; in which the upper portions of said standards are connected to the said base by tie rods located to counteract said bending of said standard.

It is an object of this invention to provide a lift truck wherein the power unit such as a hoist motor or the power amplifying unit such as the mechanism of a chain hoist can be located above the load to be lifted.

It is an object of this invention to provide a lift truck having upwardly extending standards constructed of a flanged beam with parallel flanges of one beam extending towards the parallel flanges of the other beam and wherein such flanges form rails for the lift carriage to ride on. i

It is an object of this invention to provide a lift truck wherein parallel vertically movable forks are available for lifting and wherein such forks are combinable with a cross bar extending therebetween for specialized types of lifting.

It is .an object of this invention to provide an attachment for parallel forks such as those set out above, adapted to lift one end of an automobile.

It is an object of this invention to provide a lift truck combinable with a lifting table for such applications as are not susceptible to lifting by conventional forks.

It is an object of this invention to provide a method of separating upper and lower die components whereby the upper component is raised with the lower component to a suspension location and said upper component is suspended at a fixed height whereupon the support for the lower component is lowered so that the components separate.

In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the lift truck including several pairs of parallel forks.

Figure 1A illustrates the fork mounting means.

Figure 2 is. a perspective view of a centre hook, fork attachment.

Figure 3 is a cross-section showing the fork mounting for attachment shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the platform attachment.

- Figure 5 is a cross-section showing the fork connection for such platform attachment.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a car-lifter attachment. v

Figure 7 is a cross-section showing the fork connection for such platform attachment.

the width of the carriage.

( 2,843,280 Patented July 15, 1958 basic lift truck in stacking bin.

Figures 14, 15 and 16 illustrate the operation of the basic lift truck in stacking pallets of the type described in my co-pending application Serial No. 485,771, filed February 2, 1955. r

In Figure 1 is shown a truck comprising front wheels 10 and support members 12 therefor; rear, caster mounted wheels 14 and support members 16 therefor; and a pair of upwardly extending standards 18 rigidly joined to said front and rear wheel support members.

The front wheel support members 12 comprise a pair of parallel widely spaced arms extending forwardly (i. e. to the right in Figure 1), the wide spacing allowingthe truck to move up to a location where the arms 12 straddle the object to be lifted.

Support members 20 and 22 join the spaced standards 18 and the rear wheel supports to provide a unitary rigid truck. The upper extremities of the standards 18 are joined by a support 24 which is preferably offset rearwardly as shown in Figure 1 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. p Y

The standards 18 are preferably H-beam members with cross bar oriented in the forward-rearward direction relative to the truck whereby there are provided on each standard a pair of flanges 28 (rearward) and 30 (forward) extending toward the other standard.

The pair of flanges 28 and 30 on each standard 18 form guide meanspreferably acting as rails for the lift carriage 32, which comprises a pair of side members 34 adapted to ride parallel to the standard 18 joined by a pair of cross members 36. Upright members 34 are preferably made of hollow rectangular tubular members as illustrated in Figure 1A.

Each upright or side member 34 is provided (referring to its functional orientation) with upper and lower wheels 38 mounted to project outwardly from the carriage and toride in the space between flanges 28 and 30.

Since theload on the carriage is a cantilever type then a clockwise (as seen in Figure 1) turning moment is applied whereby upper wheels 38 ride on flanges 30 and lower wheels 38 ride on flanges 28.

The raise-and-lower mechanism for the carriage will now be described. Support 24 is provided with a U- shaped loop 40 located substantially centrally thereof. From the hook is suspended any conventional manual chain hoist such as that shown at 42 by a hook 41. The provision of a chain hoist above the load to be lifted provides means for directly lifting the load. It is within the scope of the invention that the manual hoist be replaced by a hoist motor also located above.

The lower cross-bar of the carriage is provided with attaching means for book 45 of the chain of the chain hoist which may conveniently be the U-shaped loop 44.

The lift truck operates with two lifting forks spaced The carriage of this invention provides alternate upper and lower positions for such forks. The position of the upper attaching means is shown at 46, the lower at 48.

The attaching means may be seen in Figure 1A. An angle plate 50 attached rigidly to the rearward wall of the tubular carriage member provides a downwardly directed surface 52 adjacent the rear wall while an angle plate 54 attached. rigidly to the forward wall of the tubular carriage member provides an'upwardly directed surface 56 adjacent the forward wall at a height somewhat lesserthan the surface52.

to cooperate. with downwardly directed surfaces 52.

The cooperating fork 57 comprises a longitudinally extending shank adapted to act as a cantilever for lifting purposes. Such forks are provided with upper bearing surfaces 58 at one endthereof extending longitudinally relative to the shank. The bearing surface 58 is adapted A downwardly directed surface 60 opposite to surface 58 and displaced along the fork an appropriate distance is provided to cooperate with surface 56. The fork is preferably tapered to a point formed by the lower surface 59. and bearing surface 58. The lower surface is .shaped to provide downwardly projecting abutments 64 and 66 on each side of the downwardly directed surface 60 with abutment 66 preferably extending for a short distance parallel to upright 34 as shown.

. The fork 57 is inserted in the supporting means by moving it diagonally longitudinally downward into the opening until surface 60 rests on surface 56, then the fork will rotate clockwise until surface 58 contacts surface 54 as seen in Figure 1A and the fork is securely supported by the carriage for lifting, and securely retained against chance removal by the abutment 64.

Supporting means 48 or 46 are provided to mount a pair of forks either at the bottom or top of the carriage, the lower fork location 48 being particularly adapted for floor level lifting.

The upper extremity of the standard 18 is also provided with a pair of fork supporting locations 61, although such forks are not movable vertically but pro- Vide an overhead suspension means for uses such as those to be hereafter described.

The various attachments for use with the basic lift truck so far described will now be described:

Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, a centre hook attaching means for a pair of forks in any of the three possible positions is there shown. A bar 62 of a length to overline a pair of forks is provided with two downwardly extending projections 64 corresponding to the spacing of the forks and such projections are provided with apertures 66 sufficient to receive the forks 57 passing therethrough. Set-screw means 70 attached to the bottom of the projection and directed upwardly into the aperture are provided to fixedly locate a cross bar on the forks. The cross bar is provided with a rigidly attached downwardly extending centre hook 71 for attaching to suitable suspension or lifting means. It should be noted with reference to this accessory and to accessories to be described hereafter that the fixed fork location 61 has a different fork spacing from the carriage fork connections 46 and 48. Therefore such accessories must be designed for one of the two fork locations.

Referring now to Figure 4, a platform 72 is provided adapted to rest on a pair of parallel extending forks 57. While so resting, the outward end of the platform with relation to the forks is defined and this outward end is provided with downwardly extending projections 74 similar to those 64' shown in Figure 2 with corresponding apertures 76 and set-screw attaching means 78.

It should be noted with reference to the accessories described hereinbefore and hereinafter that the lifting force is applied at a location inside the forward extension of the front Wheels whereby the stability of the lift truck is never affected by the load lifted. This reference may be checked by looking at Figures 10, 8 and 11.

A bumper jack is provided by the accessories shown in Figures 6 and 7 wherein a crossbar 80 adapted to rest on the parallel forks is provided and the crossbar is provided with twin projections 82 apertured at 83 as in the application shown in Figures 2 and 4. Set-screws 84 are provided but due to the type of load which is to be lifted a more secure attaching means is provided than the set-screws alone. From thecrossbar 80 downwardly projecting into each aperture is provided a stud 86 which is adapted to cooperate with a socket located in the upper surface of each fork. The aperture 83 therefore must be of sufficient vertical dimension to allow insertion of the fork below the lower extremity of the stud 86. At the proper position the crossbar 84 is allowed to rest on the forks and a stud seats in the cooperating socket 85, preventing sliding of the bar relative to the forks under lifting loads. The set-screw in this application therefore merely ensures retention of the stud in the socket. The upper surface of the bar 80 is provided with a concave upward projection 87 for contacting the bumper of an automobile.

With reference to the advantages and applications of the invention, it should be noted that the removable manual chain hoist 42 located at the upper extremity of the standards is a valuable economic feature and also provides more simple operation of the device than a hoist means located near the floor level; The operation of the basic construction shown in Figure l is to move the truck up to the article to be loaded so that the parallel arms 12 straddle the object, the forks 57 extending from the carriage having already been located in the sockets 46 or 48 particularly adapted to lift the particular load. As the truck is moved into position the forks 57 are moved to a location just below the lifting projections on the load and the hoist is used to move the carriage upwardly lifting the load out of contact with the floor. The truck may then be moved to the new location of the load for removing it as shown in Figures 11 and 12.

As shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13 the lift truck is peculiarly adapted to operate with nesting bins such as those shown in my copending application Serial No. 570,988, filed March 12, 1956.

In Figure 11 is shown a bin 90 which for clarity is referred to as No. 3 bin, being brought up for location in nesting position above bins No. 1 and No. 2. With bin No. 3 in position in the stack the truck is moved back out of straddling location relative to the stack and brought in with the forks beneath the projections of the lower No. 1 bin. It is thus adapted to carry the entire stack to the desired location.

Referring to Figure 10 it will be seen that the concave upward projections 87 of the bumper jack attachment are adapted to be placed beneath the bumper of an auto and the hoist operated to move one end of the auto off the floor.

Referring now to Figures 8 and 9, the use of the construction for die separating is illustrated. A die composing upper and lower components 94 and 96 is loaded onto the loading platform 72 illustrated in Figure 4 which, of course, rests on parallel forks 57. An attaching means such as the rope 98 is connected to the upper component 94 and the upper and lower components 94 and 96 together are lifted until the rope 98 may be attached to the centre book 62 attachment used with the stationary forks at the upper extremity of the uprights. With the rope attached to the centre hook 71 the platform 72 and carriage 34 are lowered slowly beyond the extension limit of the rope 98 so that the upper component of the die is retained at a fixed height. The weight of the lower component 96 of the die causes it to separate from the upper component 94 and therefore such separation is easily obtained.

Referring now to Figures 14-16 the use of the construction for stacking pallets is illustrated. A pallet comprising a platform 100 and legs 102 is separated by pipe-like spacers 104. It will be noted that the spacing of the legs 102 is wide enough to receive lift forks 57 therebetween and that the height of legs 102 is sufiicient so that both forks 57 and support arms 12 may be received under the floor contacting pallet when the stacker is about to lift said pallet. In operation then, the lift truck is brought into proximity to a pallet and the forks project under the platform and on raising lift it for application on top of pipes 104 extending from a second pallet (Figures 14 and 15). With the pallet in place, creating in effect a set of shelves, then the forks may be inserted under the platform 100 of the lowermost pallet to then lift the shelves as a whole.

I claim:

1. In a lift truck: a base therefor; a pair of standards extending upwardly from said base; a pair of forks extending outwardly from said standards; a crossbar resting on said forks at a predetermined location; a pair of downward projections thereon apertured to slide over said forks; a pair of studs projecting downwardly from said crossbar into said apertures, but leaving in said apertures suflicient depth below said studs to receive said forks; downwardly extending holes in each of said forks at said predetermined location adapted to receive said studs; set-screw means extending upwardly through said projections adapted to bear on said forks and upward projections on said bar having a concave upward surface.

2. In a lift truck die separating means comprising: a base therefor; a pair of standards extending upwardly from said base; a pair of vertically fixed forks extending outwardly from said respective standards adjacent their upward extremity; a carriage vertically movable guided by said standards; a pair of forks projecting therefrom; a platform resting on said forks; a manual hoist attached to the said standards adjacent the top thereof connected for hoisting to said carriage; a crossbar joining said vertically fixed forks; and suspension means downwardly extending from said crossbar.

3. A method of separating upper and lower die components comprising; supporting and raising said components together, then independently supporting and limiting the downward movement of said upper component while lowering the support for said lower component below said limit.

4. An article of manufacture comprising in combination: a lift truck having: a wheeled base, a pair of standards extending upwardly therefrom, guide means on said standard; a carriage adapted to ride on said guide means including: a pair of parallel members each mounting upper and lower means for moving in said guides; means rigidly connecting said parallel members, a fork projecting from each of said parallel members, a first surface on each of said parallel members limiting upward movement of the respective fork projecting therefrom; a second surface on each of said parallel members limiting downward movement of said fork at a location spaced in the projection direction from said first surface; and means limiting sliding movement of each of said forks relative to the respective parallel members.

5. In a lift truck having a wheeled base and a pair of standards extending upwardly therefrom, lifting means and a hoist means therefor attached to said standard, the power amplifying unit of said hoist means being located and operable at a location adjacent the upper extremity of said standards.

6. In a lift truck as claimed in claim 5 wherein said hoist means is manual.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,413,526 Drake Apr. 18, 1922 1,667,547 Green Apr. 24, 1928 1,835,431 Ryerson Dec. 8, 1931 1,983,858 Karnes Dec. 11, 1934 2,259,882 Glasner Oct. 21, 1941 2,300,162 Maude Oct. 27, 1942 2,490,772 "Benner Dec. 13, 1949 2,558,388 Richardson June 26, 1951 2,566,863 Voight Sept. 4, 1951 2,570,989 Seelig Oct. 9, 1951 2,582,663 Weiss Jan. 15, 1952 2,603,372 Ketchpel July 15, 1952 2,634,931 Weitzel Apr. 14, 1953 2,665,022 Dunham Ian. 5, 1954 2,714,463 Fraser Aug. 2, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,040,017 France May 27, 1953 

